10 Handheld Games To Look Forward To This Year

With two new handheld gaming systems on the market with the 3DS and PS Vita, we’re bound to get a lot of exciting non-console, non-PC games. 2012 already has tons of awesome games to look forward to, and with so many more games coming out on the handheld systems in the next 12 months, it’s looking like a jam-packed year. For those of us who don’t play on consoles or PCs and usually prefer playing on our handheld systems, here’s a list of 10 games coming out this year on the PS Vita and 3DS that look the most awesome. We’ve obviously left out a lot of games- no list is perfect, after all- so let us know about them in your comments below.

Uncharted: Golden Abyss

This game is up here, on this list simply by the virtue of being an Uncharted game. But, to be honest, that isn’t all. We all had doubts in our minds- some of us still do- if Sony Bend will be able to port the franchise to Sony’s handheld system successfully. I mean, sure, Bend’s one of the best development teams around, but Uncharted is a franchise known for its stunning graphics and astoundingly high production values. Repeating what Naughty Dog did with the console trilogy on a handheld is surely a huge task for Bend. But from what we’ve seen so far, and we’ve seen plenty, the game looks awesome, performing the transition of the franchise to a handheld system perfectly. It may not be the full fledged console Uncharted game everybody wants it to be, but it looks great nonetheless and has us excited.

LittleBigPlanet

We’ve seen very little of the PS Vita iteration of LittleBigPlanet, but come on- have you ever played a bad LittleBigPlanet game? Even the PSP version, which was so dumbed down compared to its console counterparts, was an extremelt well developed, enjoyable game. LittleBigPlanet Vita looks to be incorporating all the unique gameplay mechanics of the console versions, and with the extra control inputs of the Vita to boot, with the rear touchpad and the touchscreen and other such inputs, there’s bound to be some new unique twists to how the platforming is handled. There’s also the fact that the PS Vita has fully fledged online functionalities, with Trophies and everything else you’d expect to see in a console, so the online side of the things looks good too.

Little Deviants

Taking full advantage of the PS Vita’s touch and motion capabilities, Little Deviants will offer an experience unlike any other. We’ve seen little of it so far, and it seems to be getting undeservedly low hype, but the little we do know about this game looks very good, and we definitely cannot wait to see how it shows off the Vita’s capabilities. It may not be a high flying action game, but it still looks like something we will all have fun playing.

Paper Mario 3DS

Super Paper Mario was another one of those IPs that had so much potential but Nintendo never developed- because the first game on the N64 was brilliant. Obviously, fans of the RPG genre and of the Mario franchise are looking forward to Paper Mario 3DS more than any other game on Nintendo’s new handheld. And for good reason, apparently. The game looks great, pure fun, utilizing the 3D functionalities of the 3DS too. It may not be the typical Final Fantasy-esque RPG, and it may not be a full fledged Mario platformer, but it’s still something that all 3DS owners would be very foolish to miss out on.

Resident Evil: Revelations

The Resident Evil franchise has been down in the dumps for a long time now. Resident Evil 6 and Operation Raccoon City sure look awesome, but they definitely don’t look like the typical survival horror Resident Evil games everyone has been clamouring for. Resident Evil: Revelations on the 3DS looks very old school, reminiscent of the glory days of the franchise, and it looks more or horror and survival games than Resident Evil 4 and 5 could ever hope to be. It’s the game that all RE maniacs have been waiting for all these years. Mercenaries showed last year that the 3DS is more than capable of handling Resident Evil games, so we’re excited to see what Revelations has in store for us. The demo recently came out, and it gave us a taste of how terrifying, awesome and good looking the final product would be. And I have to say, I was impressed. Very, very impressed.